The Saga Begins (Shadouge)
by Brandon the Lynx
Summary: Shadow is walking down the street, observing Sonic's failed atempt to talk to women, when he hears a familliar song come from his back pocket. He answers the call, but what will the news on the other end make him do? Will Sonic be his usual annoying self? And will Silver agree to what Shadow asks? Read and find out! ;) On Hiatus for now.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Shadow was walking down the street when he noticed his rival, Sonic, entering the park which housed the Lake of Rings. "Wonder what he's doing." he muttered, then shrugged. Rouge was due any day now, but Shadow wanted to keep it a secret. He didn't like to make things public.

Just then, Shadow's phone began to play 'Fly in the Freedom'. It was the special ring tone he had set for Rouge alone, so he answered as fast as he could. "S-Shadow!" Rouge shouted down the phone. She was crying. "It's t-time!" "I'll be right there!" he yelled, then hung up the phone. He pulled out his red Chaos Emerald and said, "Chaos Control!"

He appeared in his living room. Rouge was sat on the black leather couch, breathing rapidly. "GET ME TO THE HOSPITAL!" she screamed. Shadow picked her up, still holding the emerald, and shouted "Chaos Control!" again. In a matter of seconds, they were stood in the waiting room of St. Maria Hospital. He turned to the receptionist. "My wife is going into labour. Please tell me Doctor Oscavitch is available!"

The cat behind the desk nodded, then looked at a list on her computer. "She'll be in delivery room 7. Good luck." Shadow thanked the cat and glided down the hallway, reaching the room as Dr Oscavitch was about to walk in. "Shadow! Rouge! I hear it's time." the ostrich said, holding the door for them. Shadow placed Rouge on the bed and handed her a hospital gown. She slipped it on under the pink robe she had been wearing, then removed the robe and handed it to Shadow.

"Righty-oh! Let's have a look see..." Dr Oscavitch said, kneeling in front of Rouge. Shadow didn't like it, but he let her do her job. "Why is it so hot?" Shadow asked as he removing his sleeveless red jumper, revealing his eight-pack abbs. He sat next to Rouge, who began stoking his tuft of white chest fur with the back of her hand. Shadow smiled. It was rare for Shadow to smile, but Rouge had been getting him to open up more and more.

"Mrs Chaos, you're only eight centimeters dialated. You will have to wait a few more hours before giving birth." the doctor said, standing up. "Shadow, just give reception a call on that phone there if you think she needs something to help with the pain." With that, she left. Shadow sighed, stroking Rouges spines. She treated her spines like hair, so she had let them grow to about three inches past her shoulders. Shadow loved this. "Not long now, Batty." he said, smiling. Rouge blushed, loving the fact that Shadow had came up with a pet name for her. She fell asleep in his arms, though it was fitfull due to contractions.

12:01, April 1st

Shadow shot up to the sound of Rouge screaming. "GET ME SOME GOD DAMN MORPHINE, SHADOW!" she yelled, causing the windows to vibrate. Shadow grabbed the phone, asking for some morphine and Doctor Oscavitch to return.

Almost instantly, the ostrich doctor ran in with a needle. Rouge's eyes widened in fear as her screaming stopped. "Babe, you ok?" Shadow asked, worried. Rouge's breathing had gotten faster, her heart beat rapidly and her throat closed up. "N-n-n-NEEDLE!" she shouted, cowering. Shadow wrapped her in a loving embrace and whispered, "It's ok. It'll only be in for a second. You won't even fell it." "Promise?" asked the ivory bat, tears in her eyes. Shadow smiled. "Well you didn't feel it, did you?" he asked.

Rouge looked at the now empty syringe being thrown in the bin. The pain in her lower regions melted away and she relaxed. Doctor Oscavitch checked her once again and smiled at Shadow. "She's ready. Get her to push." Rouge heard and grabbed Shadow's hand, putting pressure on her lower body. She stopped after ten seconds, exhausted. Shadow took a bottle of water from his pocket and held it to the panting woman's lips. She drank the fluids greedily, then pushed again.

"You can stop now, Rouge." the doctor said, standing. She drained the fluids from the infant's nose and mouth, then handed Shadow a pair of scissors. "I am not cutting my son!" he shouted. Rouge laughed, "No, honey. You need to cut the cord before he's officialy _born_." "Oh, sorry."

As soon as Shadow had cut the cord, the child started crying. "Did I do something wrong?" the ebony hedgehog asked, suddenly afraid. This made Rouge laugh again. "You're so funny, Shadow. That's a good thing. It means the baby's alive." Shadow sighed, relaxing. He grabbed his jumper and sat next to the hospital bed, holding Rouges hand tightly as they waited for the nurse to bring back their child. The nurse came back after two minutes. So while Rouge was nursing their son, Shadow stepped into the hall to make a call...


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Shadow walked back into the room, slumping into a chair next to the ivory bat's hospital bed and pinching the bridge of his nose. "What's wrong, sweety?" Rouge asked, covering herself after the mahogany-coloured infant had finished nursing. "Nothing, just Silver being an early-morning grouch." the ebony hedgehog replied, turning towards her. His attention was gained by the infant playing with the crumpled red sweater he was wearing.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" Shadow asked, grinning. There was a rhythmic tapping at the door and Shadow groaned. "I'd know that knock anywhere. Come on in, you annoying pest!" He almost fell off of his chair when the door flew open and a large red/black/yellow robot crouched to fit through. "You never called me a pest before, Comrade..." Omega said sadly in an American accent. Shadow's eyes softened. "Omega, you know that was a certain Faker's signature knock. And that he gets on my nerves. Sorry, but I thought you were him!" he explained.

Omega sat on the floor and asked: "So, what are you naming him?" Rouge looked at Shadow. Shadow shrugged and looked at his feet. Omega... well, you could say sighed. It was more of a rattling microwave though. Anyway... the large micro- I mean robot's mechanical eyes searched through lists of baby names on he internet, occasionally shaking his big square head. After about two minutes, he blurted out three names: "Malcolm, Roberto or Stuart!"

Omega had to step outside the room with the infant while the ebony and ivory parents debated, rather loudly, over the names. In the end, it was Shadow who had won. "Stuart Chaos, welcome to Mobius Prime." he said, taking Stuart from Omega's clunky arms. They creaked as he lowered them. "Dude, you need to get them looked at!" Shadow said, concern in his voice. "Its been going on for ages, and oil hasn't really helped." Rouge looked up from covering her ears. "It's painful, isn't it?" she asked, receiving a nod. "I'll see if I can get you an appointment with Tails then"

The automaton thanked her, then left. Shadow sat back in the chair next to the hospital bed and handed his son back to Rouge. "We should get some sleep." he said, leaning back in the chair. Rouge lay on facing Shadow on her side, her arm wrapped protectively around the mahogany child. "Well goodnight then, Shadsie!" she teased Shadow growled playfully. "Goodnight, Delinquent!" Rouge pouted. She had been to prison three times before the age of twelve, so she hated being called a delinquent. Shadow just laughed. "Kidding! You know I love you." "Aww, I love you too." the ivory bat replied, her expression softening.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

(10:30am)

Shadow was woken by a loud thumping at the door. He stood up groggily and trudged over, his face showing an unhappy frown. He reached the door and pulled it open revealing two small children; Simon and Bethany-Burn. Simon was a violet male hedgehog wearing a light blue t-shirt, black jeans and a pair of brown and grey boots. Bethany-Burn was a silver-grey cat wearing a royal blue kimono shirt, baggy indigo jogging trousers and a pair of white trainers with purple laces. He ushered them into the room where Rouge was just waking up.

"Hello you two!" she said, smiling. "Where're your parents?" "Mommy had to go to work." Bethany-Burn said, then was interupted by Simon saying: "And Daddy went to the gift shop!" Shadow smiled. "I'll go find him. Be back soon!" he called, walking out the door. He made his way down the hallway, not really paying atention, when he bumped into somebody and ended up sat on the floor. He winced as he heard a crash.

"I'm so sorry!" the ebony hedgehog cried, standing up as fast as he could. He held out his hand to help the person up, then realised it was Silver wearing a blood-red shirt, grey grunge jeans and green/white sneakers. "Oh, hey. What was that?" he said, pointing to the dark green box that that crash had originated from. Silver's ears drooped. "It _was_ a present for you and Rouge." Shadow looked from Silver to the box, then to Silver again. "Sorry, man..." Silver waved the apolagy off like it wasn't necessary. "No prob, Grandpa."

Silver's eyes went wide when he realised what he said. He looked around frantically, fear etched onto his face. "What's the matter?" Shadow asked, genuinley confused. Silver wiped his brow. "Whew! No zone cops. Goody." he said, still sounding shaky. Shadow put his hand on Silver's shoulder, trying to calm him. "Why would the zone cops be here?" he asked. Silver pulled out a golden pocket watch and pointed to it's face. Crimson eyes scanned the object, then locked onto golden eyes. The watch was ticking _backwards!_

Shadow and Silver walked into the hospital room where Rouge was sat talking to the violet and silver-grey hedge-cats. The ebony hedgehog cleared his throat, causing all eyes to fall on him and Silver. The box was in Silver's hands. He had used his psychokinesis to move the pieces back together while Shadow fused them with Chaos Energy. It was now perfectly intact. "What's that?" Rouge asked curiosly. Silver handed her the box and Shadow took Stuart from her. She opened the dark green container and immediatly had to fight back tears. Inside was a crystaline sculpture of her and Shadow surrounded by the seven Chaos Emeralds, each of which crafted out of a colour that matched the real thing. It was a perfect match to the day the two first met.

"Silver, thank you..." the ivory bat whispered, her voice cracking. Silver shrugge and smiled.

(12am)

The ebony hedgehog, ivory bat and mahogany hedge-bat walked into the large, black bricked house that was their home. Rouge placed Stuart into his crib then sat on the couch beside Shadow. "Honey, do you have to work tonight?" she asked. Shadow smiled. "Unfortunatley, yes." he replied. "I'd like nothing more than to stay home with you, but you know how the commander gets." "I know." Rouge sighed.

They spent the next few hours in each others arms, occasionaly seperating so Rouge could tend to their son. Shadow decided to put a movie on, and surprised his wife by placing 'Casablanca' into the disc tray of his XBOX. The ivory bat snuggled up to the ebony hedgehog with the mahogany hedge-bat in her arms. Shadow wrapped his arm around her shoulder lovingly and smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

[(3:15pm) Shadow POV]

I gently place a blanket over the sleeping forms of my wife and child. I wrote a note and changed into my work clothes: a white vest, green camoflage trousers, a light brown overcoat, black goggles, white gloves with black cuffs, a pair of black and white air shoes and my inhibitor rings (of course). As I was stepping out the front door, I casually looked over to the couch and smiled.

In the garage sat a white Hyundi i40 Station, a black Toyota Avensis and my black Kawasaki ZZR1400 motorcycle with the old 'Black Arms' painted on the side in red. It may have symbolised domination then, but since their demise, it's meaning changed to 'Protector'. I hopped onto my motorbike and sped off, remembering to press the button to close the garage door before I left. Rouge would kill me if I left it open.

About half an hour later, I arrived at the G.U.N millitary base. Parking my bike, I greeted some of the other agents on their way in. One in particular, a large brown echidna with messy purple hair by the name of Sydney Rockafella, stopped to talk to me. "Hey, Shadow! How's the wife?"  
"Rouge's good. She's at home with the baby right now." I explained, genuinly happy to see Sydney with his always-posative attitude.

"How 'bout you? I hear tell you've found yourself a girl!" Sydney turned away, blushing. "Well, Julie-Su is..." he started, but I cut him off. "Julie-Su! As in, Knuckles' ex, Julie-Su!?" Sydney nodded, smiling. "Yup! I noticed her running into the back room of the Blue Siam the other day, crying. I felt bad for her, so I used my badge to get back there and talk to her. We hit it off from there."

'Aurora, Sydney! That was fast!' I thought to myself as we walked into the massive building together. We talked for the entire time we were together, then Sydney had to go to the firing range for target practice. I was called into the briefing room. As I walked into the large, circular room, I was greeted by the commander himself, Abraham Tower.

"Good afternoon, Agent Chaos." Tower said, extending his hand. I shook it, replying with: "To you too, Commander. What seems to be the matter?" Tower sighed, running a hand through his greying hair. "I'm afraid to say that I need you, my best agent, to infiltrate the Iron Kingdom directly." Needless to say, I was shocked. "May I ask why, Sir?" I asked. He handed me a folder. I opened it and began examining it's contents. "We have reason to believe that the Iron Queen has managed to get her hands on a Chaos Emerald, and has sent it with Conquering Storm and Lightning Lynx back to her castle for safe keeping. You won't be alone, though. I've managed to convince the Chaotix the lend me Espio, Ocean and Julie-Su for this mission."

My ears perked at the last name, and my mischevous side kicked in. "Sir, would it be possible for Agent Rockafella to accompany me aswell? He may be of use as a marksman alongside Julie-Su." I asked, smirking. Tower thought for a second, then nodded. "Of course. That's fine by me, but you leave immediatly. Espio, Ocean and Julie-Su will meet you at the King Frederick Airfield at precisley 1630 hours!" I saluted and ran towards the firing range, looking for Sydney. He smiled when he saw me and walked over. "Hey man! You done already?" he asked, laughing. "Nope." I replied, "But you are! Grab your weapon, you're coming with me on this one. Commander's orders."

Sydney was beaming as we walked into the parking lot, a Barette 50 cal. sniper rifle on his back and a Vz-61 Skorpion strapped to each of his legs. I climbed onto my bike and he hopped into a sidecar that had been attached while we were inside. We sped through the streets and reached the airstrip in no time, being fifteen minutes early. I ran to the store and bought us both a Dr. Pepper while we waited, making sure to bring drinks for the other three too.

When they arrived I passed them the bottles and explained exactly what we had to do. Lara-Su was wearing a black t-shirt, black skirt, beige knee-length socks, green and white trainers and a gold belt. Espio wore a purple kimono shirt, tight black jeans, black trainers, black half-gloves and a red scarf. Ocean had a green t-shirt with a black vertical stripe, a white jacket with light blue trimmings on the collar and hemm, white fingerless gloves and white boots. I then smirked, making Julie-Su nervous. She had always hated it when I smirked. "What aren't you telling us, Shadow?" she asked, shifting her weight from foot to foot. "Well," I began, barely able to contain my laughter at this point, "There's another agent coming with us to help out."

Ocean rolled her eyes. "What, G.U.N doesn't think that we can handle this? Even though they practically _begged _for our help!?" she yelled. Espio placed his hand on her shoulder, calming her down. "Don't worry, Ocean." he said, "I'm sure there's a good reason for a fifth member of our party. Right Shadow?" I snickered. "Yeah, I couldn't resist causing akwardness!" I replied, making the three confused. "Come on out, dude!"

Julie-Su's eyes widened when she saw Sydney walk out of a plane hanger. She ran over and hugged him, laughing giddily the whole time. "Sydney! What're you doing here?" she asked, beaming. Sydney smiled back. "Shadow brought me for extra support, but he didn't tell me you were gonna be here!" he exclaimed. "How're you two doing?" he asked, turning to Espio and Ocean who were completley lost at how Julie-Su had reacted to the agent. "Uh... Great." Ocean replied. "Yeah, me too. You?" Espio added. Sydney's smile widened. "I'm always good! Especialy when I've gaot my Lara with me."

With that he walked back into the hanger followed by Lara-Su and returned with a large black plane with my red 'Black Arms' logo on the wings. "Ah... there's the ol' Blackbird!" I said, climbing into the pilot's seat. Sydney sat behind me with Lara-Su on his lap. Espio and Ocean stood on the wings. (Espio used his ninja skills to stay there and Ocean used a Gravity feature in her boots) When we were all set, I drove the plane down the runway and took off!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

(Outskirts of Iron Kingdom, 5:45pm)

After the plane landed Shadow, Sydney, Julie-Su, Espio and Ocean all hopped off and began preporations for infiltration. Ocean placed a small box on the floor, then pushed a button on top. A holographic map of the entire kingdom appeared and Ocean began studdying it. "Okay, If the Gossamer are here..." she said, painting a small cross onto the map with her finger. "And the Raiju are here..." Another cross. "And the Yagyu have camps here, here and here..." three more crosses. "Then the safest option would be to head through the Shinobi territory, which is here." Espio added, circling a large area to south.

"Let's get going then!" Sydney said eagerly, putting one of his Skorpions back into it's holster. Shadow led the way, following the map on Ocean's hologram. They reached their destination without any trouble. Espio took the lead as they entered the Shinobi territory, as he was a member of the Shinobi clan himself. Ocean walked beside him, her arm linked in his. Julie-Su and Sydney brought up the rear guard, leaving Shadow all alone in the middle. "It's times like these that I wish Rouge and Omega still worked for G.U.N." the ebony hedgehog sighed.

It took about three hours for them to reach the wall of the city, by which time darkness had fallen. Espio climbed the wall and cut a hole in an air duct. Ocean used her hydrokinesis to raise the rest of the team on a pillar of water. Shadow crawled into the vent followed by Espio, then Ocean, then Julie-Su and Sydney brought up the rear. They made their way through silently, checking every grate they crossed for the room that the Chaos Emerald was being kept in. Pretty soon, they came to a three-way split in the duct. One tunnel went straight forward, one went up and one went down.

"Guys, we've gotta split up." Shadow whispered, just loud enough for the others to hear. "I'll go straight ahead. Espio and Ocean go up. Julie-Su and Sydney, you're going down." With that Shadow carried on through the ducts, stopping to make sure the others went the right way. When he was satisfied, he crawled quickly through the cramped metal tunnels. It wasn't long before he heard familliar voices. Familliar _lynx_ voices.

"Why not?" a male whined, sounding slightly frustrated. "Because, you have yet to beat me in a duel!" a female replied. "Alright then. How about we have one after we drop off the emerald?" the male asked. Shadow had been watching the two from above, stifling his laughter at Lightning Lynx' desperation. 'Storm would never go for him.' the ebony hedgehog thought. He then remembered his mission and quickly called the others using a communicator in his glove. "Guys, I've found Lightning Lynx and Conquering Storm. Their arguing because C.S won't go on a date with L.L."

Within seconds, Ocean, Espio, Julie-Su and Sydney were beside him. "Who's ready for a fight?" Sydney asked. Julie-Su giggled and placed her foot over the grate and pushed. It fell in no time, and the five of them dropped down, ready to take the two lynxes on. Lightning smirked and charged at them, taking Espio and Ocean by surprise. Sydney instinctivley pulled out his two Skorpions, one in each hand, and fired at Conquering Storm. She dodged the bullets, blocked a punch from Shadow and sweep-kicked Julie-Su. Shadow managed to make contact with the Chaos Emerald when she wasn't looking and quickly Chaos Controled it into his back pocket.

"Tactical Retreat!" Shadow yelled, pulling his own Chaos Emerald out. Espio, Ocean, Sydney and Julie-Su placed their hands onto his arm as he held the emerald out and cried "Chaos Control!"

The five were now standing beside the Blackbird. Shadow climbed into the pilot's seat again adn flipped the ignition switch. "What're you doing?" Sydney asked. "We need to get the emerald!" Shadow smirked and pulled the purple Chaos Emerald out of his back pocket and threw it to the brown echidna. Sydney smiled at him as he climbed into the back seat, pulling Julie-Su up with him. "You sneaky devil!" he cried. Ocean and Espio stood on the wings again as the plane took off.

(King Frederick Airfield, April 2nd, 2am)

Shadow left his plane in the hanger and drove Sydney back to the G.U.N base. After dropping the echidna and Chaos Emerald off, he removed the side-car from his bike and went home. He arrived outside of the large, black-brick house at about 3:15 after stopping off to grab something and parked his bike in the garage. Entering the house he yawned, hung his overcoat on the coat rack by the door, removed his work clothes and walked up the stairs to his bedroom.

He opened the door as Stuart started crying and smiled. Picking the infant up, he began rocking him back and forth in an attempt to calm him down. "Shh, it's only Daddy. I missed you." the ebony hedgehog said soothingly, sitting on the foot of the bed. A pair of hand wrapped themselves around his chest, casualy playing with the tuft of white fur. "What about me?" the ivory bat purred seductivley, recieving a playful growl. "How could I _not _miss the hottest bat in all of Mobius?" he replied, smiling. Rouge took Stuart from Shadow and began to nurse him. Shadow frowned, causing Rouge to giggle. "What?" she asked, "You're not _jealous_ of your own son, are you?"

Shadow smiled at her. She always knew how to cheer him up. But it wasn't jealousy, it was concern. What if Conquering Storm and Lightning really _did_ hook up. It wasn't likley, but still...

Shadow fell asleep quickly after Rouge was done feeding their son, the ivory bat's head resting on his chest fur like it was a pillow.


	6. Chapter 6

Shadow awoke to a captivating smell of bacon and eggs coming from downstairs. He dressed in a green 'got rings?' T-shirt, dark blue jeans and white gloves with black cuffs. Pulling on his pink socks as he walked, the ebony hedgehog exited his bedroom and made his way to the kitchen.

When he walked into the room, the first thing he saw was Rouge wearing a red blouse, a blue pair of her 'Sonic Riders' trousers and black sneakers with white toes. She turned around holding two plates of bacon, eggs, sausage and toast. The ivory bat smiled as she set the plates down on the large oak dinner table, then began preparing Stuart's mashed fruit. She sat down beside Shadow after about half a minute.

"Sleep well?" Shadow asked, popping some bacon into his mouth. Rouge nodded while chewing on an egg. Stuart giggled as he played with the bowl of banana mush in front of him. Shadow shook his head, laughing a little himself.

"So Shadow." Rouge began, leaning her head on her left hand. "I was thinking we could go on a picnic. Maybe invite Silver and his family." Shadow smiled. "I've been meaning to talk to Silver about something, so yeah."

After breakfast Shadow washed the dishes while Rouge got Stuart dressed. When they came down, Stuart was wearing a green t-shirt, blue shorts and red high-top sneakers. Shadow had packed cheese, ham and lettuce sandwiches, sausage rolls, crisps, yogurts, jelly, fruit and several bottles of coke in a large basket. He put on his red-lensed sunglasses and grabbed the basket then walked out the front door, locking it behind him. "Car, emerald or walk?" The ebony hedgehog asked. "Walk." Rouge replied, strapping Stuart into a black stroller.

Rouge pushed the stroller and Shadow carried the food. They reached the park In about five minutes and found Blaze, Sliver and their kids already there waiting.

"Blaze! Silver!" Rouge cried, stopping beside the cat and hedgehog. "Hey Rouge!" Blaze replied, hugging the ivory bat tightly. Shadow smiled and walked over to Silver, Stuart still sat in the pushchair. A silver-grey cat and purple hedgehog ran over and hugged Shadow's legs. "Mr Shadow!" The cat, Bethany-Burn, cried. The hedgehog, who's name was Simon, was pulling funny faces and making Stuart laugh.

"Hey you two!" Shadow replied, chuckling. "I got you something!" Almost immediately, the twins stopped what they were doing and stared wide-eyed at Shadow.

Shadow reached behind him, into his back pocket, and pulled out two envelopes. He handed one to each of the children, receiving confused looks in return. "Keep a hold of those, they'll come in handy when you get older." He explained.

Everyone sat down and began eating. Blaze kept complimenting Rouge on her cooking, receiving a slight snicker from Shadow and Silver. Eventually she got tired of it, asking "What's so funny?". Silver began rolling around on the floor, his immature side taking over. Shadow took one look at the look on Blaze's face (if you can remember what your mom/stepmom looked like when she was mad/curious) and joined his grey counterpart. Rouge giggled slightly, further annoying the poor pyro kinetic and causing a flame to grow around her.

Blaze snapped out her un-intentional tantrum after hearing a faint sobbing noise, and looked up to see BB hugging her knees and sobbing and a slightly burned Rouge checking a wailing Stuart. When she turned to her right, Silver and Shadow were using their powers to try and contain her flames. Though they were burned badly, and clearly weakening.

What nobody expected was to see Simon run over, shove Silver and Shadow away and hold out both his hands, palms facing Blaze. Narrowing his eyes, the young purple hedgehog started to approach Blaze slowly and carefully. Flames began pouring into the hazard signs on his glove palms. Blaze's eyes widened in shock as her son absorbed all of her rage-flames and collapsed on the floor, panting and sweating.

Blaze was immediately by the youngling's side, holding a bottle of water to his lips. "How long have you been able to do that, Simon?" She asked. "About a month…" Simon replied, "I was gunna surprise enough on your birthday…"


End file.
